God’s Appointed Times

Waiting is one of the most difficult and exhausting occupations you will ever engage in. But in the wait, something wonderful happens. Unseen, deep within, as you wait on the Lord, your strength is renewed. Inner transformation is invisible and can’t be controlled.

When it feels like time’s being wasted and nothing’s happening, the Lord is orchestrating an appointed time.

The expectation may be great; the promise rich. But feelings say it will never come.

It’s a struggle to wait on the Lord. But if you do, in His timing, the moment arrives when He gives you the gift designated for that specific appointed time.

And when it comes? Oh! It’s a moment of joy and delight, changing you and your environment. 

This is part of your destiny; a divine moment to receive from His hand the gift He created uniquely for you.

Will you wait? Or will you rush ahead trying to claim it for yourself?

One day Satan entered a snake; pretending to be what he was not, he began his assault to steal Eve’s peace. In her innocence, she was naive to evil. Neither she nor Adam thought to stand guard against possible threats to the integrity of Eden. Failing to protect the Garden God appointed them to rule over, they also failed to guard their hearts.

Satan is like a master angler who enters quiet waters and in the peacefulness begins to work his fly rod with its beautiful lures.

Skillful in flicking his wrist, he casts words, like flies skimming across the surface of your brain that look vibrant and enticing and your thoughts follow them. With a casual pause, the fly rests on the surface of the waters; like the fish, you take the bait, unaware of the hook hidden within the beautifully hand crafted lure.

It feels exhilarating as you run. But the hook has set and the master angler plays you, loosening the fly line to give you your head.

Oblivious to his presence, in his appointed time of darkness, with patience, he begins to reel you in. Exhausted, your resources expended, you remain unaware you’re his captive. 

Unlike Satan, God wants what’s best for you. He doesn’t play you or use you as a slave, for He desires relational intimacy with you. 

Did you know God has made everything beautiful in its time? He has also set eternity in your heart (Ecc 3:11). But His appointed times involve a call to wait and that isn’t easy. 

Did you know the moment you take your eyes off Christ and gaze at feelings, the door is thrown open to the enemy’s deceptions?

Do you know why?

• Feelings are very strong.
• Feelings appear more true than truth.
• Feelings feel right.
• Feelings look logical.
• Feelings delight the senses.
• Feelings break down boundaries.

God knows what you need and what will harm you.

As a parent, we want the best for our child. We often make them wait for desserts, or toys, or to go play – because we know even good things can be harmful at the wrong time. 

Eve’s decision to take the fruit was a decision not to trust her Lord. Like a child demanding her way, she was deceived by what seemed logical. As she leaned on her own understanding, she trusted Satan, even though she knew the tree belonged to the Lord, who made it. 

As she and Adam took the fruit, they engaged in an act of theft. They didn’t wait and there were consequences to their theft, even as you and I experience today when we do override God’s plan for us.

Adam and Eve missed many blessings. They didn’t experience the great joy of the Lord acknowledging their trustworthiness. They missed seeing Him smile and saying “Well done!” They missed out on Him gifting them with the privilege to freely eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Not only did they miss that huge blessing, but their sweet intimacy with Jesus in Eden ended as a curse came upon them and all humanity.

Today, the Lord calls you to wait on Him.

It’s easier to reach out and take whatever you feel you need or deserve. But if you do, you’ve latched on to the bait with its hook tying you to the enemy of your soul. You become his captive – you rest under his banner. Your struggle grows for there’s no peace in his kingdom, only drivenness and confusion.

When you find it hard to wait on the Lord: Pause. Breathe. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Invite Him to be LORD of the moment.

Ask Him to help you so you don’t give place to the enemy. The reward for waiting is wonderful! It’s intimacy with Jesus Himself. It is resting safely underneath His wings, where in His appointed time, He gives you the desire of your heart.

Keep waiting. The Lord is birthing something within you. He will bring hidden things of darkness into the light to purify you, heal you and strengthen you in your inner person.

Waiting on the Lord allows the peaceable fruit of righteousness to develop and grow in you. At His appointed time – His gift is from His heart to your heart – it’s a time of joy and celebration. 

It is good that a man (or a woman, boy or a girl) should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD (Lam 3:26).